U of G Ranked Among World's Top Ag Research Institutions

October 16, 2006 - News Release

The University of Guelph ranked seventh among universities worldwide for its impact on agricultural sciences during the past decade, a study by Science Watch reveals. U of G was the only Canadian university among the top 25 institutions ranked for agricultural research from 1996 to 2006.

“Guelph’s survey ranking is outstanding — and expected — given the truly breathtaking activity of faculty and staff in agriculture and food sciences,” said Ontario Agricultural College dean Craig Pearson.

Agricultural research papers published by U of G investigators were cited just over 8,000 times between 1996 and 2006, behind total citations for the University of Georgia and Iowa State University. The highest-ranked universities for total citations were Wageningen University in the Netherlands (16,370) and the University of California, Davis (13,554).

Measured by impact, or citations per paper, Guelph was listed 12th among universities worldwide, with 6.99 citations per paper.

Including all research institutions, Guelph placed 12th overall in total citations and 14th in citation impact. The U.S. Department of Agriculture headed the total-citations list with nearly twice that of the second-ranked institution, France’s Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. At the top of the citation impact list were the University of Helsinki (9.05 cites per paper) and Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin (tied at 8.47).

Science Watch is published by Thomson Scientific in Philadelphia. It provides rankings, interviews, and reports on significant science. The information for the survey came from Thomson Scientific’s Essential Science Indicators, based on papers published in 118 Thomson-indexed journals of agricultural sciences between January 1996 and February 2006 and cited during the same period. The survey included only universities and research institutions that published 500 or more papers during that period.

Asked to comment on the rankings, Science Watch editor Christopher King said: “The agricultural science research published by Guelph personnel is registering strongly in terms of its influence and significance as viewed by other scientists.”